Her husband is a superstar but Latha Rajinikanth isn’t fascinated by the world of cinema. She is more of a philanthropist and wants to help poor children

Rajinikanth’s wife Latha describes as “adventurous and exciting” her role as the southern matinee idol’s life partner and says her “greatest satisfaction” will come from making a difference to the lives of poor children.

She first met the The Boss star when she was studying in Ethiraj College in Chennai and later, in the 1980s, the two tied the knot. Her life has since then been “wonderful” and more, she says.

“It’s been wonderful, adventurous, exciting… At the same time, it’s a huge responsibility to take on shoulders because life can never be normal. But at home, we are a normal family and we try to retain that,” Latha told in an interview here. She is mother of two daughters, Aishwarya and Soundarya, both of whom have taken filmmaking as a career choice.

Elegantly dressed in a bright traditional silk sari, Latha, talking about her “creative” daughters, said: “Both were artistic, but we were waiting to see in which direction they would go, and they have identified themselves as directors.”

While Aishwarya made her directorial debut in 2012 with romantic thriller 3, which starred her husband Dhanush in the lead role, Soundarya’s first film Kochadaiiyaan, starring her father Rajinikanth, is coming out May 9. Kochadaiiyaan is set to deliver groundbreaking technology – the Rs.125 crore project is said to be the country’s first motion-capture photo-realistic 3D animated movie.

Soundarya was honoured Tuesday with NDTV Indian of the year technical innovation in a film award for the same and the proud mother says “it is a wonderful feeling”.

“It’s a proud moment for us…,” said Latha, a professional singer who has sung Manapennin sathiyam for Soundarya’s first venture Kochadaiiyaan. Like her daughters, Latha also didn’t take the acting route due to lack of interest and chose to be a singer.

“I’ve been a singer since childhood. I enjoy making music and singing. As far as acting goes, I don’t think I’ll do a cameo also. It’s a big platform and already there is an actor in the family,” said Latha, who mostly likes singing pop and folk numbers.

She might not like to act in movies or even star in films with her husband but she is not finicky about who is paired with Rajinikanth on the big screen – even if it means watching the 64-year-old act with Deepika Padukone, who is only 28 years old, in Kochadaiiyaan.

“Soundarya has made her father look younger with the help of technology in the movie. So, Deepika will be seen acting with him as a 25-year-old. Also, age doesn’t restrict an actor because it’s for a movie. It’s just a character,” said the singer who answered all the questions smilingly despite being tired.

Her family is certainly important to her, but so is she to help the needy and she manages to take out time for them.

“I stay connected to my passion for children, music, education… We started The Ashram in 1991. Now, there are 2,500 students. There are two divisions – ICSE and state board. The focus is on core development of a child. We work on their personality and aptitude development.

“If I can make a difference to children, that will be my greatest satisfaction,” said the founder of the co-ed school offering education to students from class one to 12. Latha also runs a foundation called ‘I am for India’ that works for social care, medical care, senior citizens, environment and more.

She has so much in her kitty, but there is no stopping her. To stay pink in health, she practises yoga and also meditates, hoping to continue maintaining a balance between her family and her passion.

Cineswami shares exclusive images from the birthday celebrations of Dhanush

Dhanush, high on the twin successes of Raanjhanaa and Maryan, celebrated his birthday on July 28. He turned 30. As Indian stars usually do, he took off to all-time favourite destination – London. There is something about the city that attracts Indian stars by the hordes.

Ajay Devgn, Kajol, the Bachchans, the Khans, practically everyone with a visa (sorry Salman Khan) lands up in the capital of the United Kingdom, come summer. Dhanush was accompanied by a few of his closest friends, including Kolaveri di composer Anirudh Ravichander. Looks like it was a stag do, as wife Aishwarya Rajinikanth was nowhere in sight.

Isn’t that a happy coincidence? The two actors, one from the Tamil and the other from the Malayalam film industry will turn a year older on July 28. The two actors recently picked up the trophies at 60th Filmfare Awards of South cinema which was held last week. Dhanush bagged awards in two categories – Best Actor and Best Playback Singer. Dhanush bagged both the awards for his film 3 which was directed by his wife, Aishwarya Rajinikanth where he acted opposite Shruti Haasan. Dulquar received the Best Debut award for his noteworthy performance in Second Show directed by Srinath Rajendran. The film had won critical as well as public acclaim.

Directed by Anand L Rai, the film also features Sonam Kapoor, Abhay Deol and Swara Bhaskar. It has music by AR Rahman. The trailer of the film released on Wednesday and seems to have impressed others in the South industry as well.

Filmmaker Venkat Prabhu remarked, “Awesome Dhanush! Brilliant as usual and I am sure he is again going to make us proud.”

Producer Dhayanidhi Alagiri said, “Raanjhnaa trailer! Like always he is good at what he does. Great work Dhanush”.

The New York Tamil Sangam conferred the grand title on the 3 director. But what has Aishwarya done to deserve it, asks Cinesami

Superstar Rajinikanth’s daughter and National Film Award-winning actor Dhanush’s wife is Aishwarya – that’s how she’ll be known until she proves herself as a director. But the New York Tamil Sangam begs to differ. Aishwarya was in New York recently because her directorial debut, 3, was selected to screen in the New York Indian Film Festival. God only knows why, because apart from glimmers of a performance in the first 45 minutes by Shruti Haasan (channelising Kamal Haasan), and acting horrors by her in the rest of the film (channelising Sarika), the film is an absolute dud that failed at the box office, leading to false rumours about Rajinikanth reimbursing distributors.

Anyhoo, Aishwarya rose from the ashes of her debut disaster and blithely flew to New York to party. When she tweeted about her trip, her Oscar-winning sound designer Resul Pookutty got upset and tweeted back petulantly on the lines that this was the first he’d heard about the trip and anyway have fun, etc. He has deleted the tweet since. That aside, the august body that is the New York Tamil Sangam decided to confer the grand title of Pride of Tamil Nadu to Aishwarya because she “deserved it. She is the daughter of a leading personality and wife of an award-winning actor. But she independently proved herself.”

Let’s leave aside the question of how on earth a bunch of American Tamils can confer an award that by its very name should be given by the state. The real question here is how does Aishwarya deserve this, or any other award? How has she proved herself? Yes, she’s made a film, a flop film. To paraphrase a once popular ditty from the film:

“Yo boys, I am make film

Soup film

Flop film

Why this award, award di?”

If just making a debut film qualifies for an award, there are scores of directors in Tamil Nadu who have made impressive debuts this year. But they all suffer from two defects – they are not born into Rajinijkanth’s family and they are not married to Dhanush. So the formula seems quite clear, if you want a useless award for a useless film from an obscure organisation in the US, first pray to God that you are born in one of the first families of filmdom, and then once you’ve achieved that, marry a decent actor. Simple.

Meanwhile, Balaji has sold the all India distribution rights of Kyaa Super Kool Hain Hum for a Super Kool Rs 21 crore and chillar to some poor sap in Nagpur. It might be a good investment though because the audience has shown unlimited appetite for brainless comedies (Housefull 2 anyone?), and this one actually looks funny, in a desperately dumb way, just the way you like ‘em. And it has a pooch named Fuckruddin. Cue serpentine queues at the turnstiles. The same-gender team behind the film must be happy….

Rumours about the trouble in Rajinikanth’s elder daughter’s paradise have been doing the rounds, but it comes across as a constructed PR gimmick to us

Being Rajinikanth’s son-in-law and daughter are reason enough for people to be curious and talk about Dhanush and Aishwarya. Thanks to the Why this kolaveri di song from their film 3, the couple became a household name in India. Unfortunately for the makers, the film didn’t see even a fraction of the success that the song did.3 got mixed reviews and a lukewarm response at the box office. Apparently, that triggered the PR machinery to spread the buzz about trouble in Dhanush and Aishwarya’s marital life due to Dhanush’s closeness to the film’s leading lady, Shruti Haasan.

The rumours had surfaced sometime before the film’s release too, but didn’t do it any good. Instead of learning from that, the PRs are plugging stories about the ‘intimate scenes’ between the lead pair so that people who have missed the film have another reason to buy a ticket. There were also stories about Dhanush and Shruti spending time together at booze parties minus Aishwarya. Denying all the gossip, Dhanush said in an interview, “I am really upset with these rumours. When two people do an intense love story, there are bound to be rumours. Now that the film is over, hopefully all the gossip will die down as well.”

Though it could be a PR move done to death, it just might help the film in getting a second wind at the BO and it just might become more than just an average hit. What do you think?

Dhanush and Shruti Haasan’s film is all set to release to across theatres this Friday. The Tamil romance flick is Superstar actor Rajinikanth’s daughter Aishwarya’s debut directorial

Ever since Dhanush went viral with the song Why this kolaveri di, his movie 3 has been the talk of the town. The film directed by Aishwarya is set to hit the theaters on March 30. Aishwarya tweeted, “Just collected the 1st city print of 3 from the lab as a distributor emotions racing..off to the temple now..prayers now !” Produced by Dhanush‘s father Kasthuri Raja, the music is composed by Anirudh Ravichander while the cinematography is handled by Velraj.

The expectation are riding high with the film as it releases in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi simultaneously. But will 3 beat the popularity of the song, remains to be seen.

Cineswami visited the sets of the film in London and found out

It seems that nothing is impossible for the indestructible Rajinikanth, even bringing the dead back to life, but that is precisely what’s going to happen in Kochadaiyaan. Ever at your service, doing the jobs others don’t want to, Cineswami dropped into the closed and hush-hush sets of the film at London’s Pinewood Studios and got you this nugget. The 3D motion capture film being directed by the Superstar’s daughter Soundarya will use cutting edge technology to bring the dearly departed comedians and villains of Tamil cinema Nagesh, P S Veerappa, M N Nambiar, R.S Manohar and Asokan back to life, albeit in animated form. As the icing on the cake, the much-loved Nagesh will be seen in a double role. But the cherry is reserved for Thalaivar who will be seen in not one, not two, but three different roles in the film.

Sarath Kumar is playing a key role in the film and his wife Radikaa visited the sets and sent out a series of tweets over the weekend about it, which are reproduced below:

“Amazing technology used, great enthusiasm and vision by Soundarya, KSR and team at Kochadaiyaan shoot. Very impressed.” (KSR, of course, is KS Ravikumar who wrote the story, screenplay and dialogues for the film.)

“AR Rahman visited the sets yesterday and had lunch with all. Lovely to see Rajini and ARR childlike quest to know and grasp something new.”

“Hd some great laughs wth rajini, reminder of days when no caravan was in use,and we wld sit 2gether chatting, eating & sharing warm moments.”

“Great camaraderie between actors. All down to earth, humble and refreshing to watch.”

“Lovely Sunday, great weather, movie& popcorn @ multiplex with Rajini, Ksr, Dr, and our family. And awesome Italian meal with great conversation.” Lest you get alarmed, the Dr being referred to isn’t Rajini’s physician, but Dr Murali Manohar, one of the producers of the film.”

Meanwhile, the Telugu rights of the film have been sold to Lakshmi Ganapathi Films for Rs 30 crore. Endhiran’s Telugu rights fetched Rs 27 crore. Rajini fans in Japan are also in for a treat as the film will be dubbed in Japanese and released there.

Back in India, Rajini’s other daughter Aishwarya is on tenterhooks about her debut feature 3 that releases March 30. “2 days to go..i can neither sleep nor eat. levels of tension n nervousness sky rocketing. its almost time to share my journey of “3″ wit u!” she tweets. Her husband Dhanush, who also stars in the film, is also impatient to see the film out in the cinemas, tweeting, “3 releases this friday just 2 days to go. gonna b d slowest 2 days of my life. can’t wait to know ur feedbacks. God bless”. Let’s see how the audience votes, come Friday.

Southern star Dhanush has teamed with Sonam Kapoor for his Bollywood debut Raanjhanaa and says it is too early for him to judge the acting abilities of his co-star

“I think it’s really too soon for me to judge what kind of an actor Sonam is. I’ll have to work with her and then probably I’ll know better,” the 28-year-old said.“Right now, as far as I am concerned, she has a very expressive face and I am sure she is capable of much more than she has already done,” he added.

Sonam Kapoor was initially in two minds but finally gave her nod for Raanjhanaa. The film will showcase the lead couple as students from Varanasi studying in Delhi. Meanwhile, the Kolaveri Di man who had composed a Sachin Tendulkar anthem says it feels great now that Sachin has got his 100th international century. “There is nothing new that I can say about the Master. The song was aired a month ago and it’s got over 5 million hits . Now that he’s also got his 100th ton, it’s really great,” said Dhanush.

Dhanush is currently in Mumbai working on the dubbing of the Hindi version of his wife Aishwarya Rajinikanth’s directorial debut 3.

Southern star Dhanush added to the Christmas celebrations in Kolkata when he performed his raging hit Why this kolaveri di to thousands of screaming fans Sunday. Dhanush and the song’s music director Anirudh Ravichander regaled the audience at City Center mall. The fans, both young and old, clearly couldn’t have enough as they kept chanting “once more” when Dhanush finished. He generously obliged. Dhanush is perhaps the first Indian celebrity whose song Kolaveri di has gone viral on YouTube, with over 20 million hits so far. The number is increasing by the day. The video for Kolaveri di was released online November 16. Its peppy tune as well as funky lyrics helped it go viral and get more than a million hits on YouTube within a day of its launch.